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| Moscow Police Arrest Nearly 700 at Election Protest | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — The police in Moscow arrested nearly 700 people who had gathered near City Hall on Saturday to protest what they called unfair coming elections and to demand that opposition candidates be allowed to run for city office. | |
| The protest in the center of Moscow, which was unauthorized and unraveled into scuffles with police officers, was the latest in a series of street demonstrations staged as President Vladimir V. Putin’s approval ratings have dipped amid economic hardship. | The protest in the center of Moscow, which was unauthorized and unraveled into scuffles with police officers, was the latest in a series of street demonstrations staged as President Vladimir V. Putin’s approval ratings have dipped amid economic hardship. |
| Aleksei A. Navalny, the opposition leader who had called the demonstration, was arrested on Wednesday and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Other prominent opposition politicians — including Ilya V. Yashin, Dmitry G. Gudkov and Ivan Y. Zhdanov — were also rounded up before the event and released only late in the evening. | |
| A post on the Facebook page of Mr. Yashin, a street activist and one of the politicians who was barred from running, said 10 masked police officers had removed him from his apartment in Moscow overnight before the Saturday demonstration. | A post on the Facebook page of Mr. Yashin, a street activist and one of the politicians who was barred from running, said 10 masked police officers had removed him from his apartment in Moscow overnight before the Saturday demonstration. |
| “We will have nobody to choose from at the Election Day,” said Nadezhda Pilinskaya, 59, a retired entrepreneur who was one of those who managed to reach City Hall through police cordons. | “We will have nobody to choose from at the Election Day,” said Nadezhda Pilinskaya, 59, a retired entrepreneur who was one of those who managed to reach City Hall through police cordons. |
| “It is horrible. My feeling is that we live under an occupation,” she added, referring to the heavy police presence in the city center. “They fear that the end is coming, the end of this regime.” | “It is horrible. My feeling is that we live under an occupation,” she added, referring to the heavy police presence in the city center. “They fear that the end is coming, the end of this regime.” |
| While protests in provincial cities and the capital have pierced the image of unified support for Mr. Putin, the scale of support for such rallies is unclear. | While protests in provincial cities and the capital have pierced the image of unified support for Mr. Putin, the scale of support for such rallies is unclear. |
| The authorities often begin making arrests before a crowd can gather, as happened on Saturday as lines of riot police officers in body armor and helmets — an outfit protesters called “the cosmonaut” — blocked streets and chased demonstrators down alleys far from City Hall. | The authorities often begin making arrests before a crowd can gather, as happened on Saturday as lines of riot police officers in body armor and helmets — an outfit protesters called “the cosmonaut” — blocked streets and chased demonstrators down alleys far from City Hall. |
| Some protesters sat on the sidewalks and awaited arrest, chanting, “We love Russia! They love money!” — a reference to widespread anger over corruption in Mr. Putin’s government. Some sat and read copies of the Constitution. | Some protesters sat on the sidewalks and awaited arrest, chanting, “We love Russia! They love money!” — a reference to widespread anger over corruption in Mr. Putin’s government. Some sat and read copies of the Constitution. |
| The spark for Saturday’s protest was a decision by election authorities to bar several opposition candidates running for Moscow’s City Council, asserting that they had falsified signatures on petitions to run — a charge the candidates denied. | The spark for Saturday’s protest was a decision by election authorities to bar several opposition candidates running for Moscow’s City Council, asserting that they had falsified signatures on petitions to run — a charge the candidates denied. |
| Protesters say that without them, the election is rigged. | Protesters say that without them, the election is rigged. |
| Some protesters chanted, “Where is my signature?” Others yelled, “Where is my candidate?” | Some protesters chanted, “Where is my signature?” Others yelled, “Where is my candidate?” |
| The Moscow City Council has 45 seats and is responsible for a large municipal budget. It is controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year term, are up for election on Sept. 8. | The Moscow City Council has 45 seats and is responsible for a large municipal budget. It is controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year term, are up for election on Sept. 8. |
| Election officials have so far registered nearly 200 candidates, most of whom are largely supportive of Mr. Putin. | Election officials have so far registered nearly 200 candidates, most of whom are largely supportive of Mr. Putin. |
| Protests had broken out even before the election dispute as Russia’s economy swoons under Western sanctions. Street actions began in provincial cities over bread-and-butter issues such as the placement of garbage dumps and the dismal wages of medical workers, which highlight growing frustration over gloomy standards of living. | Protests had broken out even before the election dispute as Russia’s economy swoons under Western sanctions. Street actions began in provincial cities over bread-and-butter issues such as the placement of garbage dumps and the dismal wages of medical workers, which highlight growing frustration over gloomy standards of living. |
| Saturday’s protest appeared intended to raise the pressure on Russia’s tightly controlled political system. | Saturday’s protest appeared intended to raise the pressure on Russia’s tightly controlled political system. |
| The number of arrests, 696 by Saturday evening, was reported by OVD-Info, an independent monitor that tracks data from police precincts. | |
| The police could be seen spraying some demonstrators with a chemical irritant. One woman, Aleksandra Y. Parushina, bled from a blow to the head with a nightstick. | |
| “None of us was breaking the law. This situation was provoked by the police,” said Ms. Parushina, hear head wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage. “I even lost consciousness for a minute,” she said while waiting for an ambulance. | |
| Though the opposition has managed near-weekly protests this month, it’s unclear whether any longer-term momentum is building. | |
| The Moscow police said in a statement that 3,500 people came out for Saturday’s rally, including around 700 journalists and bloggers who had registered beforehand. The number could not be independently verified. | |
| At one point, separate groups of demonstrators marching though the city center blocked some central streets. | |
| There was a heavy police presence at the intended site of the protest, the mayor’s office, which many demonstrators never reached as arrests ensued so quickly. Police trucks and buses parked in the building’s courtyard, positioned to take detainees away. | There was a heavy police presence at the intended site of the protest, the mayor’s office, which many demonstrators never reached as arrests ensued so quickly. Police trucks and buses parked in the building’s courtyard, positioned to take detainees away. |